The little house that could

No rain water or stormwater has left Sydney’s Sustainable House in the storms this year. So far, in 14 years, the house has: kept over 1.5 million litres of sewage here in a garden some 3 square metres produced such high quality and low quantity sewage that a leading soil expert says the garden’s good for another couple of decades of sustainable water use like the last 14 years stopped over 112 tonnes of greenhouse gases polluting Earth’s... Read More

Summary of sustainable housing red tape

There’s a summary of laws, rebates, incentives and government-generated red tape to promote sustainable housing in Queensland, NSW and Victoria here:   www.thefifthestate.com… Remember to hold a ball of string as you enter.  While it’s a beaut summary it can’t overcome the avoidable complexity governments have created for those wishing to go sustainable.  And it will be out of date in a month or two. M  Read More

Seedling pots you can plant

Rachel, John, Karlie putting seeds into loo rolls Avoid transplanting small plants; to do this use loo paper rolls as seedling pots.  They will decay in the soil and protect the young seedlings until then. Plant seeds in the loo pots, rope them together with string and place in a cardboard tray that you put in good sunlight.  Water them all at once.  Leave in sunlight ’til big enough to plant. When ready to plant bury the seedling pot into... Read More

Ten things you can do today in your road garden, and do no harm

I’ve written about some easy-to-do things in our streets to grow food in a column called, Bathurst Burr, in the online magazine, The Fifth Estate, here:   www.thefifthestate.com… Maybe one or two of those ideas might work for you? Just a thought, M  Read More

Peace Park Compost Bin Temperatures

Seven of the 14 public compost bins in Chippo are in Peace Park, one for each day of the week. The 7 Park bins are named for each day of the week, Monday, Tuesday, etc. By inviting people to put the waste in the bin which matches the day of the week  it’s intended the waste will be more evenly distributed across the seven bins.  After 7 months of the trial this appears to be working. It was the bright idea of Sydney City Council’s Waste... Read More

  • Michael Mobbs

    Michael is a former Environmental Lawyer who is uniquely placed to consult in four main areas:

    • Sustainability Coach and Speaker,
    • Sustainable Urban Farm Design greening, watering and cooling the cityscape, roads, parks, suburbs,
    • Major Projects Consultant Commercial and Industrial,
    • Residential Sustainability Consultant.
    For permission to re-print any articles or to book Michael for a speaking engagement go to Contacts. Please ensure all quotes from Michael's blog include a reference to sustainablehouse.com....au.